Something Like Love
by maggielyn
Summary: Alek becomes Chloe's saving grace.
1. Chapter 1

Sexy British dudes had always kind of been my thing. I was infamous for my crushes on everyone from Daniel Radcliffe to...that blond guy on House. For some reason, though, now that I am in the midst of possibly the most attractive guy I have ever met in my life, I can't say anything. Because he's my freaking protector. That meant that Valentina had full power to demolish him to nothing but a pile of ash within a matter of seconds. I could admit though, it wasn't the most pleasant thing in the world to do; to have to hang around with such a sadistic personality all the time. I mean, he wasn't evil like the people who were trying to hunt ME down to end this whole race of cat-people-aliens, the Mai. He was just a little edgy, and he had a horrible sense of humor. So, that didn't explain why I was sneaking out tonight to meet with him.

Tonight, the plan was that I was going to walk down to the intersection and wait for him outside of the local coffee shoppe. From there, the only thing he happened to let slip was that we were going to the woods outside of town, but he didn't happen to mention why, and I didn't happen to build up the courage to ask. I was admittedly, crushing really hard on Alek, but the one thing I had learned in the short time I'd known him, was that he could be very intimidating when he wanted to be. I learned quickly that when I didn't have to be serious or ask anything relevant in the least, I wasn't planning on it. He could turn so serious so fast, and it almost hurt to see him turn the switch that fast.

I obviously started to get too wrapped up in my own thoughts, because I didn't hear the voice behind me until his hand touched my shoulder carefully, "If I were an assassin, you'd be dead right now, Chloe." he reprimanded, as we took off in the direction of his truck.

The ride went quietly for the most part, until he turned up the radio to ease the awkward tension. Of course, it was one of my favorite songs that happened to be on; Teenage Dream by Katy Perry. I could tell that he was about to change the station, but the song caught his fancy too. I started to quietly hum the tune to myself until he burst into full-out song. I followed suit, feeling better about it, since I wasn't completely alone.

After the song finished on the typical big, dramatic note, that we both hit on an octave that probably only dogs could hear, I broke into a kind of laughter that I hadn't been able to produce for quite some time. Alek looked both amused and self-conscious at once, as he looked over at me with his impish little grin and asked, "Why are you laughing?"

"I'm not sure." I answered, truly befuddled, "I guess I just figured that, as a member of the guard, you just didn't have much time to listen to the radio."

He chuckled lightly, and centered his focus back on the wind shield, "Chloe, what do you think I do up in that tree all night?" he asked, not out of genuine curiosity, more as a joke, as he pulled an iPod out of his back pocket and tossed it to her, "That righ there," he motioned to the device now residing in my hand, "has 4, 500 of the best songs known to man on it. That is how I get myself through the night."

"And here I was, thinking you were spending your time admiring me from afar." I joked, but that suddenly made him turn a bit more serious. Oops.

"That's just a bonus, Chloe." the rest of the trip was taken in silence, until finally, he turned on the emergency brake and cranking his door open, "We're here." he said, motioning around to the tall trees all around them, when I noticed something that frightened me a little more than the fact that I was in the pitch black woods with the scariest person I had ever met.

"Alek, at what point did you stop driving on the road?" I asked quietly, feeling the earthy soil beneath my feet.

"About ten minutes ago. There is something back here I want you to see." he yelped excitedly, taking my hand and dragging me behing him. We ran at our supernatural speed all the way into the deepest parts of the woods, where we finally stopped, winded. I could hear water in the background. I figured it was just a river, but when my night-vision finally set in, I saw what he had brought me there to see. Before us, there was a huge waterfall, "We're here." he smiled, pointing to the huge spectacle in front of us. I was hardly conscious enough in the site of something like this to notice that his arms were making their way around my waist. I just stood there, enjoying the touch until I realized something.

"You know, I can't kill you." I whispered in shock, turning to look into his eyes.

"Yes, Chloe. I can assure you that I am absolutely possitive that you couldn't kill me. I could, however, kill you in a matter of seconds." his impish little smile spread across his face again. I knew he was sure of what I was talking about.

"Oh, you know what I mean, Alek." I rolled my eyes, pushing him away subconsciously.

"You know what, I'm not sure that I do." he pulled my closer once again, and we both just stood there leaning against each other in a comfortable way until the sound of the falls caught my attention again, and I caught his attention, "What are you thinking?" he asked, pulling a stray piece of hair out of my face.

"I was thinking that I really want to jump." I smiled, pulling away from Alek, taking a step back, and running forward to the pool of water fifty feet below.

"Are you completely bonkers?" he yelled, running after me. Suffice it to say, we were fairly far back, it was going to lead to a very harsh fall, "It swirls down there! You'll drown!" he called, taking the jump only moments after me, and grabbing my hand quickly. It was a good five seconds before we even hit the water. As was promised, we were both pulled further under by the swirling water. I could feel Alek kicking furiously, as he lost grib of my wrist.

The next thing I saw was a ton of blue as I was pulled under. They say that drowning is the most painful way to die. I would have to disagree with that one. Considering everything that had happened in the past hour or so that Alek and I had been together, I welcomed the end of my second life as a friend.

What felt like only moments later, I awoke to a pair of strangely foreign lips against mine. I had a small spasm as I tried to stabilize my body with my elbows. Over me stood Alek, a look of relief plastered across his face, "Did I-" I started, not wanting to finish the sentence. I passed out after being under water for somewhere near a minute and a half. The miserable part was that you could actually feel your lungs filling up with water.

He shook his head, and as a tiny smile spread across his features, I would have sworn I saw a tear fall from his cheek, "No, no; you didn't! Your heart didn't stop once. I- um, got back to you, and I gave you CPR."

I sat up finally, the shock setting in. I through my arms around his neck and started crying for some reason. I couldn't tell why, but I happened to notice that he wasn't wearing his serious face. It was something beautiful. Something like love.


	2. Chapter 2

Measure in Love

by Mags

Chloe figured empathy was going to be something she could deal with in time. Ever since having to start Phys. Ed. in the ninth week of school, she was thinking much differently. Everybody else's exhaustion and misery were all relayed directly to her, sending her sprinting for the bathroom almost every class period. This time, on her way, she ran into Alek- literally. He held her back, even as she tried desperately to get past him, "Chloe; CHLOE! What is it?" he asked, hands on her shoulders, holding her back.

"Alek, let me go. I'm gonna hurl." she yelled, removing herself from his grasp and then taking off to the bathroom once again. She could hear him sprinting after her, straight into the girl's bathroom and into the stall, where she collapsed on the floor, and he held her hair back. This was the part that she hated. They had to be private about everything. God knows Valentina was out watching every single move I make, and he goes and follows me into a bathroom. If she was watching at this moment, there was no question that he was dead.

"Sorry." I groaned, as I got my bearings about me and stood up finally,"You know you didn't have to follow me."

"I had to make sure you were okay." he said, washing his hands as we both made our way out, "Are you ready to call it a day?" he asked, as we both made our ways through the hallway.

"We can't leave without the secretary seeing us." I told him, making my way back to the class I hated most of all.

"We can leave through the band room. There are a couple doors back there. You don't have to sign out, and Mrs. Jackson isn't even in the room most of the time, so she wouldn't even notice. We could go to the falls for a bit before you have to be at work. Do you think you could manage that?" he asked in a sarcastic tone, "Plus, I do believe; you still have training you owe me."

"Alright, I'll do it tonight. Thank you so much Alek." I thanked profusely, as we both took to running through the entire school and finally left the horrible feelings behing us. Hopefully this would all be over soon and we could go public with our relationship.


End file.
